Safety Sunday..

[Thingybob]

I once did an H&S course on grinding machines and the first thing i learnt was to safely guard it it would be imposible to use a bench grinder as all the rotating stones would be fully encased so you introduce a segmental opening and safety is out the window and is reliant on the opperator to be trained and sensable, Given mans quest for inovation we try to make machines do things they wernt intended to do to make tasks easier and quicker . A lot of the vids on You Tube are show off ideas with no safety thoughts gone into and because the internet is a mass media resouce more people see monkey do and hence more accidents ACCIDENTS are just that unplaned and can happen to the best of us no matter how expert we are we can only try to be as safe as possible and use our sence to stay in one piece ( undead ,mangled , maimed ,dispatched to another world ) ps thanks Monty Python

 

[Johnwa]

Got to admit "biased switches" (or paddle switches as the rest of us call them?) are very much my preference for most tasks - but why are tools with them always so much more expensive?

There's no great difference in price between biased and single throw switches, a couple of quid maybe, so the reason must be with the tool manufacturers pricing policy. They charge what the market will pay, if you want this tool then this is what it will cost you in your country. One only has to look at the prices certain manufacturers charge for decent tools and compare them with other manufacturers prices to see this in action. As long as customers will pay the price then the price will remain inflated. RANT OVER!!

 

[Lard]

I tend to dwell on things that could occur and so every time I used to use my grinder/cutter and my palm router I had to stop myself thinking about them causing havoc if they got wrenched out of my hands because of their on/off switching (I’ve had no accidents btw)…..that was until recently when I bought an extremely cheap footswitch. I wired in a long power lead and fitted both the switch and a single socket (for whatever machine I plug in) to a ply base and now have complete control of when I apply power and when I stop it.

Works a treat!

 

[Keith 66]

I was a boatbuilder from the late 70's onwards, I regard the angle grinder as one of the most dangerous tools to use.
In 81 a guy in the yard i worked at was cutting a scupper in the side of a ferro cement boat, Disc burst & a large segment went between his ribs & punctured his lung. He survived.
I have had discs burst on small 115mm grinders but gotten away with it because i was wearing a respirator with visor, several other close shaves with a 9" grinder.
Tips from a shipwright channel on you tube i wont watch as the guy uses a circular saw blade on a grinder. This video above showing the guy using a grinder with his fingers in front is the same, Grinders have a handle on the side for a reason.
Both of them are idiots & publishing videos encouraging such by inexperienced users is grossly irresponsible on their part.

 

[Daniel2]

I think some people regard The Darwin Award as something to aspire to.